Wire-tying appliance



J. S. MCCHESNEY.

WiRE TYING APPLIANCE.

APPHCATIOH mm NOV. 13. 1916.

Patented Nov. 23, 1920.

3 SHEETSSHEET l- INVENTOR w! TNESSES:

W A TTORNE Y J. S. MCCHESNEY.

W|RE TYING APPLIANCE.

APPLlCATlOfl FILED NOV. 13, 1916.

Patented Nov. 23, 1920.

3 SHEETSSHEEI 2- INVENTOR, 221M 5' ATTORNEY.

J. S. McCHESNEY. WiRE TYING APPLIANCE.

APgucAnou FILED NOV. 3. was.

1,360,236, 1 Patented Nov. 23, 1920.

s SHEETS-SHEET 3.

1 2% n INVENTOR,

"3 mmumm m g 3/ 8W ATTORNEY.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN SHERMAN MoOI-IESNEY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO J. S. MOCHESNEY 60 00., OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

WIRE-TYING APPLIANCE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 23, 1920.

Application filed November 13, 1916. Serial No. 130,941.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN SHERMAN Mo- CiIEsNnY, citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in lVire-Tying Appliances; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to packaging, and more particularly to means for rapidly, neatly and effectively using wire for banding or tyingl boxes, lumber, shingles, laths, pipes, or ot er objects, In using wire for such purposes, it has been customary heretofore to start with a cut length of wire and to intertwist the free ends of the wire with pliers or the like, thereby leaving an unsightly projecting portion composed of the intertwisted ends and apt to catch on other objects adjacent to the one around which the tie was formed. The difiiculties of producing a neat tie, of disposing the intertwisted ends so that they would not catch on other objects, of manually tensioning the wire around the package, and of avoiding a waste in estimating the length of wire required in each instance, have all mitigated against the use of wire for the eneral purposes mentioned, although wire as been admittedly chea'per than cordage of the same strength.

To overcome these difliculties, my invention provides a machine which uses the wire direct from the coil or reel, and which automatically compensates for variations in the periphery of the object packaged, and which cuts. oil the wire when the tie is being finished, thereby reducing the waste to a mini-- mum; to intertwist each end of the wire tie with a portion of the tie spaced from the other end, thereby affordinga pair of twists adapted to lie close to the package, to hold the initial wire loop in convenient position for inserting the desired object through .it, to draw the wire around the object at the desired tension and to avoid overstraining it, to automatically release the wire loop from its supports during the tensioning, to start the twisting automatically when the desired tension of. the wire is reached; to continue the twisting after the ends of the wire have been severed, so as to turn the free ends of the twists toward the interior of the package; to provide a machine for this purpose in which certain parts may easily be thrown into action; to provide for an easy and rapid manual manipulation of the wire parts before the mechanically driven elements are set into operation, and to insure a stopping of certain of the elements in a position enabling an instant removal of the tied package and a ready placing of the next wire portion; to rovide means for holding the object whic is to be packaged, and means for preventing overlapping portions of the wire loop from snapplng out of their proper positions before the intertwisting is started; and to rovide means for raising the wire-tied obect clear of the mechanism. Other objects will appear from the following specification and from the accompanying drawings, in which-- Figure 1 is aplan view of a machine embodying my invention, with portions of wire loop and of the loop-support cut away.

Fig. 2 is a side View of the machine.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary elevation of the shaft of the machine, showing the gear and cutters mounted on it.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view showing portions of the clutch mechanism and of the cam arrangement for operating the tension- ;Eng of the wire taken on the line 4.-4 of ig. 5 shows the position of the wire loop with respect to a package just before the machine begins tensioning the wire; also, in dotted lines, the initial size of the wire loo ig. 6 shows the finished wire band.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged section through the gear of Fig. 1, showing the wire-twistlng pinion and parts adjacent to the same.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary view, partially in section showing the clutch mechanism.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary view. of one of the latches which initially hold the lower portions of the wire loop in position.

Fig, 10 is an enla ed front elevation of the clip which initial y supports the upper portion of the wire loop.

In the embodiments of the drawmgs, my

appliance is shown in the form of a powerdriven machine having a continuously rotating pulley 1 loosely mounted on a shaft 2 which shaft extends horizontally under a table 3 through bearings 4. The table 3 has an aperture (here shown as rectangular) through which a lifter frame 5 projects, this frame being movable by means of lifting fork 6 shown in Fig. 2. Disposed within the frame 5 and normally projecting above it are guides 7, and a pinion 8floatingl disposed between these guides and mes ing with a spur gear 9 fast upon the shaft 2. The pinion 8 is equipped with a slot sli htly wider than the diameter of the wire w ich is to be used on the machine, which slot extends (preferably radially) somewhat beyond the axis of the pinion, there being alined slots of larger diameter in the guides 7. The shaft 2 also carries cutters 10 adapted during a certain part of each revolution of this shaft to project and operate through slots 11 in the table, the cutters being of such length that the uppermost portions of their paths will be substantially in line with the axis of the floating pinion 8. Mounted at the farther sides of the slots 11 from said pinion are pairs of spring jaws, each consisting of a fixed jaw 12 and a spring-actuated pivoted jaw 13 the tip of each pivoted jaw being so disposed with respect to its pivot as to resist the movement toward the pinion 8 of a wire extending from the slot in said pinion to the said jaw. Still further to each side of the pinion 8 than the said spring clamps are spring clips 14, each desirably arranged as in Fig. 9 for holding a portion of the wire 15 under it, but permitting the spring plunger 16 to retract and release the said wire upon a sufficiently strong upward pull on the wire.

At the end opposite the pulley 1, the table 3 carries guideways 17 for a slide 18 carrying a air of spring-pressed wedge jaws 19. The side 18 1s pivoted to one end of a thrust rod 20 extending under the table and projecting at its other end loosely through one arm of a bell-crank lever 21 pivoted to the table. This lever is connected to the rod 20 by a compression spring 22, the tension of which may be adjusted by nuts 23, and the other end of the lever carries a roller 24 hearing against the periphery of a cam 25 which is fast upon the pulley 1 and preferably integral with the latter. Fast upon the shaft 2 and adjacent to the cam 25 is a clutch body 26 carrying a plunger 27 adapted to project beyond the body 26 and into en agement with a ratchet formation 28 on t e cam 25, this plunger being continuously urged toward its said engaging position by a spring 29 acting on a piston 30 which piston is connected to the plunger 27 by a strap 31. The strap 31 preferably is a portion of a ring concentric with the shaft 2, and has one end tapered, so that the tip of a release lever 32 ma enter between this tip and the clutch bo y 26, as shown in F i 8, thereby moving the plunger 27 out 0 its said cam-engaging position. The lever 32 is preferably continuously urged in one direction by a spring 33, and has at its tapered tip a shoulder (shown in Fig. 4) adapted to engage one end of the strap 31 so as to stop a further rotaton of the clutch body 26 after the tip of the lever 32 has entered between this body and the end of the strap 31.

In operation, wire is drawn from a coil or reel (suitably disposed to the left of the machine in Fig. 2 but not shown in the drawing) and is formed into a loop having two of the lower portions overlapp'ed and both slipped into the slot in the pinion 8, the portion leading from the reel or coil being lowermost in the said slot but being then kept above the free end of the wire, which free end is butted against a low stop 34, as shown in Figs. 2 and 5. When thus forming the wire loop by hand, the top of the loop is snapped between the jaws of a spring clip 35 supported by a gooseneck 45 mounted on the table 3, this gooseneck being so shaped as to bring the clip 35 directly above the pinion 8. Other portions of the wire loop are snapped under the latches 14, and the free end portion of the wire is gripped by the right-hand spring jaws 12 and 13 so as to resist a tendency to pull the tip of the wire away from the stop 34, while the portion of the wire leading from the coil or reel is clutched by the left-hand jaws 12 and 13, thereby preventing additional wire from being fed to the loop. Then the object to be tied is inserted in the loo where it is held clear of the mechanism by posts 36 and is placed with one side against the riser 47, as shown in Fig. 2, after which the loop is partly tightened by hand by pulling the coil end of the wire toward'the left. Next, the coil and of the wire is slip ed between the jaws 19 on the slide 18, so that the moving of this slide by-the thrust rod 20 will cause the machine to effect a further tightening of the wire, since eve rotation of the cam 25 actuates this t rust rod through the agency of the lever 21 and the spring 22. Since the jaws 19 operate in the same direction as the left-hand spring jaws 12 and 13, the wedgingly mounted jaws 19 may open on the returning movement of the slide 18, and as the jaws 12 and 13 will prevent the wire from slipping, the next movement of the slide toward the left will cause the jaws 19 to take a fresh grip on the wire. Consequently, the rapidly repeated pushes of the rod 20 will continue to tighten the wire loo around the package until the tension of t e spring 22 is reached, after which the slide 18 remains stationary and the further movement of the lever 21 only serves to alternately compress and relax the spring 22. As soon as this point is reached (that is to say, as soon as the wire binding has been tensioned to the degree for which the spring 22 is adjusted by the nuts 23), the trip lever 32 is moved out of its stop position of Fig. 4, thereby permitting the plunger 27 to engage the ratchet formation in the cam and hence causing the continually revolving cam to rotate the shaft 2 with it.

A light spring 42 connects the rod 20 to the table and returns this rod after each thrust, besides aiding the spring 22 to limit the tensioning of the Wire.

As soon as the shaft begins to rotate from its initial positionof Fig. 7, the gear 9 turns the fioating pinion 8 (which pinion is kept clear of the package by the posts 36), thereby twisting the overlapped wire portions at each side of this pinion. Meanwhile, the manually operated trip lever 32 has been released and the spring 33 causes it to hold its tip ready to wedge between the cam and the strap 31 when the cam has almost completed one revolution, thereby unlatching the clutch and allowing the clutch body, together with the shaft upon which the latter is fast, to be stopped by the engagement of a pin 50 on the clutch body with a shoulder 41 on the lever 32. To insure a continuing of the rotation of the shaft to the point at which the slot in the pinion is exactly vertical, so as to permit an easy release of the Wire from the machine, I preferably mount on the shaft a weighted arm 37 so positioned with respect to the strap 31 that it will tend to force the rotation of the shaft until the pin 50 positively engages the shoulder 41 on the lever 32. Before the shaft reaches this stoppin position,the cutters 10 (which, as shown in Fig. 7, are mounted in advance of the initial position of the shaft) shear ofl' both of the lower wires of the loop as shown in Fig. 5; that is to say, one cutter clips a short piece off the free end and the other severs the loop from the supply portion of the wire. However, since the cutters are mounted in advance of the initial osition of the shaft, the intertwisting o the overlapped wire portions continues after this cutting, thus turning the wire ends in the finished loop toward the interior of the loop as shown in Fig. 6. During this completion of the twisting, one of the cutters 1O pushes a slide 39 out of the way,thereby rereasing auxiliary latches 38 which prevent the wire portions from slipping prematurely out of the slot in the floating pinion, this slide being returned to its operative position by a lever 40. When the tie is thus finished, the package may be raised by means of the lifting fork 6, which causes the frame 5 to strip the wires out of the pinion 8; or, the package may merely be slid along on the posts 36 in case another loop is to be placed over it.

It will be evident from the above that after the wire loop has been manually disposed as in Fig. 2, the machine automatically performs the cycle of operations comprising the tightening of the wire to a predetermined tension, the forming of the two twists, and the cutting off of the" twist ends at the proper time during the twisting operation, the releasing of the auxiliary latches 38 which keep the wires from slipping out of the slot in the pinion, the turning of the extreme wire ends toward the interior of the loop, and the stopping of the operative mechanism when the tie is finished. Moreover, since the posts 36 keep the pinion 8 clear of the object which is being wrapped and since the latches 38 prevent portions of the wire adjacent to the twists from being drawn against the object, my appliance may be used even with objects having a delicate surface, such as paper-wrapped packages. So also, if the object wrapped is incompressible, the loop after being completed may be slipped ofi' the object (in a form shown for example in Fig. 6), so that my appliance may also be used for forming wire loops suitable for use as hoops, hose-bands or the like. In accordance with the provisions of patent statutes, I have described the principle of operation of my invention, together with the apparatus which I now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof; but I desire to have it understood that the apparatus shown is only illustrative, and that the invention can be carried out by other means.

I claim as my invention:

1. A wire loop closing machine, including means for holding the loop with each of its intended terminals overlapping a wire portion spaced from the other terminal, means for intertwisting each intended ter1ninal portion with the wire portion overlapped thereby, and means for cutting off one of the said terminal portions, the cutting means being so timed in operation with respect to the twisting means that the cut end will be directed substantially toward the interior of the finished loop.

2. A wire loop closing machine, including means for holding the loop with relatively overlapped ends, means for tightening the loop to a predetermined tension, and means for thereafter intertwisting each end portion of the loop with the part of the wire adjacent thereto without relaxing the tension on the loop.

3. A package tying machine, including means for holding a wire loop with relatively overlapped ends, means for maintaining a package within said loop,- and means for tightening the wire to a predetermined tension about the package subsequent to the formationof the loop.

4. A package tying machine, including means for holding a wire loop with relatively overlapped ends, means for maintaining a package within said loop, means for tightening the wire about the package to a predetermined tension subsequent to the formation of the loop, and means for thereafter intertwisting two relatively spaced parts of the overlapped wire portions while the wire is under the said predetermined tension.

5. A packagetying machine. including means for maintaining a wire loop around the package with two portions of the loop relatively overlapped. power-driven and continuously reciprocating means for tensioning the wire around the package subsequent to the formation of the loop. and normally inoperative means for intertwisting a part of the relatively overlapped wire portions operable subsequent to the tensioning of the loop.

6. A package tying machine, including means for maintaining a wire loop around the package with two portions of the loop relatively overlapped. power-driven reciprocating means for tensioning the wire around the package, and means for adjust ing the last named means to vary the said tensioning.

7. A package tying machine, including means for holding a wire 100 with relatively overlapped ends, means or maintaining a package within said loop, means for spacing the overlapped wire portions from the package, means engaging a part of the wire portions thus spaced from the package and arranged for intertwisting a part of the said wire portions, and common means for actuating the last-named means and for severing the wire adjacent to the twist, the severing means being arranged for operating approximately a half turn before the cessation of the twisting.

8. A package tying machine, including means for holding a wire loop with relatively overlapped ends, means for maintaining a package within said loop, means for spacing the overlapped wire portions from t e package, means engaging a art of the wire portions thus spaced from .t e package for intertwisting said wire portions, means for severing the wire adjacent to the twist, and means for discontinuing the intertwisting at a predetermined point after the said severing.

9. In a wire loop forming machine, wire tightening means including a reciprocable slide, means carried by the slide for gripping the wire to move the same in one direction only, and means limited by a predetermined tension of the wire for reciprocating the slide. 7

10. In a wire loop forming machine, wire tightening means including a reciprocable slide, means carried by the slide for gripping the wire to move the same in one direction only, a continuously 'reciprocated member, and connecting means interposed between said member and slide and including a spring arranged for rendering the connecting means inoperative against the predetermined resistance to the movement of the slide.

11. A wire loop closing machine, includin means for holding the wire loop with re atively overlapped end portions. fixed and rotatable means engaging parts of said overlapped wire portions, means for revolving the rotatable means tointertwist certain of the overlapped wire portions, latching means for holding certain wire portions in operative relation with respect to said fixed and rotatable means, and means for releasing the latching means substantially at the completion of the intertwistin 12. A wire loop closing mac ine, including means for holding the wire loop with relatively overlapped end portions, fixed and rotatable means engaging parts of said overlapped wire portions. means for revolving the rotatable means to intertwist certain of the averlapped wire portions, latching means for holding certain Wire portions in operative relation with respect to said fixed and rotatable means, and common means for severing the wire ends and releasing the latching means.

13. A wire loop closing machine, includ ing means for holding the loop with each of its intended terminals overlapping a wire portion spaced from the other terminal, means for intertwisting each intended terminal portion with the wire portion overlapped thereby. and cutting means separate from the said intertwisting means for cutting off one of the terminal wire portions adjacent to the resulting twist. I

14. A wire loop closing machine, including means for holding the loop with each of its intended terminals overlapping a wire portion spaced from the other terminal, means for intertwisting each intended terminal portion with the wire por-tion overlapped thereby, and means separate from the said intertwisting means for cutting off each terminal wire portion before the completion of the intertwisting.

15. A package tying machine. including means for holding a loop of wire previously formed to the insertion of the package and with terminal portions of the loop relatively overlapped, means for tightening the loop to a tension suflicient to cause the wire to bear fiatwise against all sides ,of the package except the one opposite the said overlapped wire portions, and means for thereafter uniting the said terminal portions.

16. A machine for wire-banding an angularly sectioned package, including means for disposing a loop of wire to receive the package and with portions of the loop relatively overlapped adjacent to one side of the package, means for tightening the loop subsequent to the insertion of the package, to a suflicient tension for causing the wire to indent the edges of the package, and means for intertwisting the. overlapped wire portions while maintaining the tension on the loop.

17. In a package banding machine, a support for a package, wire-twisting means carried by the support, and means for holding a loop of wire in operative relation to the twisting means and disposed for inserting the package therein.

18. In a package banding machine, a support for a package, and means carried by the support for holding a loop of wire in position for inserting a package therein, the loop-holding means being adapted to be released by a tightening of the loop about the package.

19. In a package banding appliance, means for spreading a loop to a bore greater than the periphery of the package, and means for tightening the loop about the package, the said loop-spreading means being operatively released by the said tightening of the loop.

20. In an appliance for banding a package with a wire loop, a support for the package, and means carried by the support for determining the plane of the Wire loop and holding the loop in such plane irrespective of the package.

21. In an appllance for banding a package with a wire loop, a support for the package, means carried by the support for determining the plane of the wire loop, and means for tightening the loop about the package, the said plane-determinin means being so arran ed as to be release by the tightening of t e loop.

22. In an appliance for handing a package with a wire loop, a support for the package, means carried by the support for determining the plane of the wire loop, and means operating substantially in the said plane for tensioning the loop about the package and rendering a portion of said first means inoperative.

23. In a package banding appliance, a support for a package, wire-twisting means carried by the support and including a rotatable pinion having a radial slot adapted to receive terminal portions of the proposed loop in overlapping relation; and a pair of grippers on opposite sides of the pinion and substantially in alinement with the said slot, for gripping portions of the Wire loop to prevent enlargement of the latter.

24. In a package banding machine, wire twisting means, two wire gripping means substantially in alinement with the wire twistin means and respectively at opposite sides 0 the latter; and means for retracting the wire through the wire twisting means and through one of the said gripping means.

25. In a package banding appliance, a table arranged for supporting a package and having an aperture adjacent to the package, a Wire twisting pinion rotatably mounted on the table and projecting upwardly through the said openin and a gear disposed below the table and meshing with the plnion.

26. In a package banding machine, a support for a package, a rotatable wire-twisting pinion having a radial slot and mounted on the support for movement toward and from the package, and means for stoppin the pinion in a position in which the slot 1s directed toward the package.

27 In a package banding machine, a support across which the banding wire is fed, means above the support for holding the upper portion of a loop formed from the wire, and means on the support for holding the terminal portions of the formed loop against enlargement of the loop but permitting the wire to slip therethrough for tightening the loop.

28., In a package banding machine, a sup- .port across which the banding wire is fed,

means above the support for holding the upper portion of a loop formed from the wire, and means for twisting the terminals of the wire loop together.

29. A package banding machine comprising continuous y operating loop tightening means including a slip joint operable to prevent eflective operation of said means upon predetermined tightening of the loop.

Signed at Chicago, November 10th, 1916.

JOHN SHERMAN MoCHESNEY. 

